A cutout outside Taj Tashi hotel in Thimpu, where Narendra Modi will stay during his two-day Bhutan visit on Sunday and Monday, read, "Welcome to our close friend, India's prime minister Narendra Modi."

It is a welcoming step, shows Modi ji wants to open a new chapter in strengthening foreign policy, says Sudhanshu Trivedi (BJP) on PM's Bhutan visi

Embarking on his first foreign visit since taking over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Bhutan on Sunday to cement India's "unique and special relationship" with this SAARC country and his thrust to make the ties more effective.

A grand welcome was accorded to him by the Bhutanese government which rolled out a red carpet and gave a ceremonial guard of honour to him.

Modi, accompanied by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, NSA Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, was received at the Paro airport by Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and several of his Cabinet colleagues.

The Prime Minister drove down from Paro to Thimphu, a distance of about 50 kms, traversing through the picturesque mountainous ranges. Common people, including children, in colourful attire lined up most of the road between Paro and Thimphu, waving Indian and Bhutanese flags.

Big hoardings carrying Modi's photographs also could be seen en route.

Soon after his arrival, Modi called on Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk.

Before embarking on the two-day visit, Modi said Bhutan was a "natural choice" as his first foreign destination because of the "unique and special relationship".

The fact that the Prime Minister chose Bhutan as his first foreign destination assumes significance since China has lately intensified efforts to woo it and establish full- fledged diplomatic ties with Thimphu.

'Modi government will take neighbours along to path of prosperity'

The new Indian government's foreign policy focus on its South Asian neighbourhood and to work towards creating a peaceful, stable and economically inter-linked neighbourhood "bodes well" not only for the collective SAARC but also for Bhutan as the Narendra Modi government will "take everybody along to the path of prosperity", says an editorial in a Bhutanese daily.

The Bhutanese, in an editorial ahead of Modi's two-day visit to the Himalayan country that began Sunday, said that "Bhutan, as an old friend, would want India to do well and surge ahead in the global scene as experience in the past has shown that the economic rise and prosperity of India has translated into benefits for Bhutan, including other countries in the region."

"However, for any major country or regional bloc, they can only ever truly rise on the global platform if their neighborhood is stable and happy, so to speak. The new dispensation in New Delhi led by Mr Modi has wisely realized this, and is thus, focusing with renewed energy and depth in its own neighborhood which is loaded with a lot of potential and unexplored opportunities, apart from the well known challenges," says the editorial.

Modi a friendly person, visit to further strengthen ties: Bhutan PM

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday begins a two-day visit to Bhutan, the Bhutanese leadership has described the Indian leader as "a friendly person and well disposed towards Bhutan" and as one who "gives a sense of purpose and hope".

Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay said that even though there are no specific issues to discuss during the meeting with Modi from Bhutan's side, all commitments made and the generous support that the government receives from India will be discussed, according to The Bhutanese daily.